Sekem
- Home of the Clean Cotton Revolution!

Sekem biodynamic cotton has an outstanding quality and is:
- good for the environment
- good for the cotton farmers' health
- good for the cotton farmer's income

Sekem biodynamic cotton is also good for you, your friends and your family.

The challenge: Only 3% of all farmland worldwide is under cotton cultivation, but a staggering 20% of chemical pesticides and 22% of all insecticides sprayed are on cotton. That means that 8 times more pesticide is used on one hectare of conventional cotton, than on one hectare planted with an average food crop

Chronic health problems: The World Trade Organization estimates that 20,000 deaths and three million chronic health problems each year are the result of the use of agricultural pesticides in developing countries.

Destruction of environment: Pests exposed to synthetic pesticides build up a resistance to them. Each year, poor farmers have to buy more and more pesticide to keep pest numbers down and keep growing the amount of cotton. Heavy pesticide use reduces biodiversity, disrupts ecosystems in the surrounding areas and contaminates water courses and ground water.

 

The Solution: Clean Sekem Cotton

Natural pesticides: Sekem cotton farmers use natural and sustainable pesticides. This keeps pests off the crops, but does not destroy their natural predators - which survive to control their numbers naturally. Another method used is intercropping, where secondary crops - like sunflowers or millet for instance - are grown between and around small plots of cotton. These create a natural barrier against the cotton pests - the boll weevils cannot scent their favorite food through the foliage of the other crops.

Biodiversity: The biodynamic farming methods promote biodiversity - Sekem cotton fields contain a significantly higher number of insect species, especially those that are beneficial.

Natural compost from Nile-delta. The desert is fertilized with natural organic compost made out of rubbish from the Nile-delta. This helps to give the soil higher humus content - making it able to retain moisture and fertility .

Join the Sekem Clean Cotton Revolution and buy a towel now. Help make the cotton production sustainable!